Facebook tests new ways to encourage users to add movies to their ‘watched’ lists

Facebook is testing new sidebar modules to prompt users to share the movies they have seen.

With the latest Timeline redesign Facebook has given users an About page with sections for movies, music, books and more. Instead of only displaying the items people “like,” these sections will show what users have “read,” “listened to,” “watched” or “want to watch.” The social network has been trying a number of ways to get users familiar with these new sections and encourage them to fill them in. Most recently, users have begun to see movie suggestions in the right hand column of Facebook.com.

Reader Matteo Gamba shared the following screenshot with us. It asks users whether they have seen a particular movie and gives them “yes” or “no” options. The header “add to movies,” implies that answering “yes” will add the film to the user’s movies section, but some users might not fully understand this and later be surprised to learn that the movie appears on their Timeline and in friends’ News Feeds.

Another option we’ve seen is a list of films with a plus sign and the word “watched.” This version of the module also includes the movie’s People Talking About This count.